Medici poisoning

Catching up on the archeological news, at last:

Historians have long suspected that Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his second wife Bianca Cappello did not die of malaria but were poisoned — probably by Francesco's brother, Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, who was vying for the title.

Now, forensic and toxicology experts at the University of Florence report evidence of arsenic poisoning in a new study published in the British Medical Journal . . .

“There was always a suspicion (of murder), but there wasn't scientific proof,'' said Marcello Fantoni, who teaches Renaissance history at Kent State University.

Posted by David on January 15, 2007 10:11 PM